Paddle mounting for reciprocating gutter hoe-type conveyers



Ian, M, 1950 F. 1.. mzzmsasv 2,494,626

PADDLE MOUNTING FOR'REC QCATING GUTTER HOE-TYPE convmzw Filed April 20, 1948 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

2 5m i7, d/iwenro/r ATTORNEYJ Jan. 17, 1950v F. L. NICKERSON PADDLE MOUNTING FOR RECIPROCATING GUTTER HOE-TYPE CONVEYERS F'iled April 20, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Jan. 17, 1950 PADDLE MOUNTING FOR RECIPROCATING GUTTER HOE-TYPE CONVEYERS Ford L. Nickerson, Gilboa, N. Y.

Application April 20, 1948, Serial No. 22,213

V 4 Claims.

This invention relates to a special paddle mounting for a reciprocating gutter hoe-type conveyor or other conveyor, with particular reference to facilities for releasing a paddle and allowing the same to be raised by an obstruction which it may encounter during operation in forward movement thereof. In my copending application, Serial No. 740,225, filed April 8, 1947, for Reciprocating gutter hoe conveyor, I describe a hoe conveyor operating in a gutter which includes a series of paddles spaced apart and reciprocating in the gutter in such fashion that in forward movement they positively feed material along in the gutter, but rearwardly upon the return stroke, these paddles are released and drag over the material until another forward stroke causes themto drop into positive downward position, wherein they again, upon forward movement, feed the material along in the gutter toward a transverse gutter taking ofi the material to a disposal point. 7

While in the operation of the apparatus thus described in my copending application the mechanism has been found satisfactory and the operation sufficient, yet I have found that it is desirable to account for obstructions which may occasionally be encountered upon the bottom of a gutter, as for example, a frozen mass or block of material which adheres firmly to the gutter, for the removal of which it has heretofore been necessary to stop the apparatus and then remove the obstruction before operation may proceed, and hence, I now propose to introduce an improvement involving facilities for raising the paddles vertically upward automatically when they encounter an obstruction and, therefore, the present invention particularly involves the mounting of the paddle which provides this movement. Thus, the main object of my invention is to provide a special mounting for the paddles of the hoe conveyor which primarily allows the individual paddles to rise or climb up on any obstruction encountered upon the gutter during forward feeding motion of the conveyor, and also returning the paddle to its proper lowered position after passing the obstruction. Anotherobject of this invention is to provide means for preventing the breaking of any paddles during operation due to their meeting with obstructions upon the chute or gutter with which they cooperate and upon which they propel ma terial'toward the delivery end thereof, and likewise avoid stopping the machine so that time is a enue were ave t It is a particular object to mount a paddle upon a hoe conveyor of the type indicated upon a vertically-slidable block which in turn is mounted for limited vertical movement suficient to allow the paddle connected thereto to rise above all reasonable obstructions, means being included for returning the slidable block to normal low position with respect to its support, so that the paddle will immediately resume operation after passing the obstruction upon the gutter.

It is also an object to have facilities included in the conveyor which ensure the paddles always being normally pendently vertical so that they are at all times ready for operation and will assume such vertical position whether in idle condition or during operation.

It is likewise an object to have a hoe conveyor as already indicated which is highly eiiicient in operation and virtually fool-proof and proof against mis-operation and lost strokes in motion.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will appear in further detail as the secification proceeds.

In order to facilitate ready comprehension of the features of this invention, the latter is illustrated on the accompanyin drawings forming part hereof, and in which:

Figure 1 is a sectional plan view through a portion of a typical cow barn or stable illustrating a portion of a longitudinally-extending gutter in combination with conveying means embodying the invention and cooperating with the gutter;

Figure 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line 2-2 in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a front elevation of the mounting of one of the paddles of the conveyor with the conveyor parts removed and portions of the mounting broken away to disclose internal detail;

Figure l is a side elevation of the same mounting as seen from the right in Figure 3, but with parts broken away also disclosing internal detail;

Figure 5 is a transverse section of the mounting of Figure 3 taken on line 55 therein;

Figure 6 is a transverse section taken on line 6-6 in Figure 2;

Figure '7 is a fragmentary side elevation somewhat enlarged and partly in section of the chain drive of Figure 1 for operating the conveyor.

' Throughout the views the same reference numerals indicate the'same or like parts.

In reciprocating conveyors of the hoe type in which paddles are used for moving materials along a gutter or chute step'by step it is quite usual to have the paddles positively pushing the m aterials forward in the feeding direction and then on the return stroke dragging loosely over the material until the paddles again drop back into substantially vertical position either at the end of the return stroke or at the beginning of the new forward stroke, but ordinarily no provision has been made for fixed obstructions encountered upon the bottom of the gutter, and if the mechanism is a weak construction, paddles or their mountings may be broken or at least the mechanism as a whole must be stopped until the obstruction has been forcibly removed by chiseling or chopping it away.

In order to improve the scope of operation of this type of conveyor, I have found it quite feasible to introduce means for releasing the individual paddles from too forcible contact with obstructions by allowing said paddles to be raised vertically out of contact therewith or at least above the outline thereof so that the paddles may again drop into operative vertical position behind the obstruction after the same has been passed, as will now be more particularly described.

Hence, in the practice of my invention, and referring again to the drawings, the reciprocating conveyor for the gutter in a cow barn or in any other structure where a conveyor is useful, includes a reciprocating, longitudinally-extending beam it having a series of paddles H extending at right angles therefrom and a trough or gutter i2 in which the paddles H are reciprocated. The mentioned beam It is preferably a flat bar rectangularly shaped in section and slidably mounted in a socket l3 with track I4 having bracing elements l5 so that when this track is embedded in one side of the gutter l2, the mentioned paddles i! which are suspended outwardly from beam H3 will be positioned to act as a series of hoes in the gutter, these details being best seen in Figure 2.

In the following, the description of one of the pendent paddles H and its mounting will suffice to describe them all. Thus, each paddle ii is suspended rigidly from a sheath or sleeve i6 rotatably mounted upon a horizontal tubular bearing H, the inner end of which is screwed into a verticalJy-slidable block [8 with a centrally-threaded hole i9 therein. As best seen in Figures 3, 4 and 5, this block has rear lateral extensions forming shoulders 20, 20. slidably held in. association with a supporting plate 2! by means of a pair of vertical guide blocks 22, 22 having inwardly-extending flanges 23,, 23 and secured to the supporting plate 21 by means of bolts or screws 24, 24, etc., extendin not only through members 22 and plate 2 I, but rearwardly of. the latter to a spacing block 25'. The. mentioned spacing block is provided upon the rear face thereof with a special metal apron 26 having a lower forwardly-inclined drainage portion 21 for shedding dust, dirt and liquid exteriorly of the lower track portion 218, which is beveled upon its upper surface in front of beam Hi, all to cooperate in shedding liquids to the outside into the gutter beneath apron 26. To the same end, the upper track portion i4 is beveled at the inside at 28 so that liquid flowing down over the rail or track M will drip off the track onto the space bar or block and also upon the lower outwardly-projecting portion 21 of apron 2B and thereby keep all fluids away from beam and the interior socket portions of track l4 and 28. Space block is directly secured through the apron 26 to beam H], by the previously-mentioned bolts 24, which extend into the beam. In order to secure retaining portions 22, 22 to the supporting plate 2| when the block support of the tubular bearing I1 is to 5 be removed bodily from the beam and bolts 24 removed, a group of screws 38 secure the mentioned members 22 to plate 2| independently of bolts 24. As thus far described, it is evident that the paddle H, with its sleeve IS on tubular bearings i1, is capable of vertical movement with block [8 mounted between the two retaining guide members 22, 22 on supporting plate 2| which in turn is fixed in position through spacing block 25 upon the beam ID, but this movement is necessarily to be limited to a reasonable extent.

Upon the top of block I8 is secured a plate 3| which normally overlies not only slidable block 18, but also the guide members 22, 22 and supporting plate 2|, but is secured to the block by screws 32, 32 and forms a stop preventing the block from dropping out from between the guide members 22. On the other hand, in order to provide a stop for the same block IS in vertical movement upward, the supportin plate upon the inner surface thereof has a pin 33 directed forwardly into a vertical slot 34' upon the rear surface of block l8 which thus allows the block to slide upwardly until the block would present the bottom of threaded hole l9 to the pin. Of course, the tubular bearing member [1 is normally inserted in the threaded hole just mentioned so that a, notch cut in the upper portion of the end threaded into the hole will cooperate with slot 34 to allow the block l-8 to rise sufficiently so that the inside of the tubular member f1 strikes the pin 33 and thereby the block against further upward movement; The mentioned upward or vertical movement thus possible to the-paddle H serves to cause the paddle to rise above obstructions during operation, which operation will now be detained sufilciently so that the cooperation of the members providing the vertical operation with the general operation a will be appreciated;

Upon the tubular member H are fixed a pair of screws or pins 35, 35 projecting out into limited open slots 36, 3B in the outer sleeve it of paddle ll, allowing the paddle to swing forward toward the observer in Figure 2 toa limited extent counterclockwise, as shown in Figured. In, other words, viewing Figure 1, if the paddles H are given a positive stroke toward the right in gutter l2, they will hang vertically and positively push debris and other material along the gutter in the direction of their movement, but, as soon as they reverse and enter their return stroke toward the left, the paddles will swing upwardly to, a limited extent toward the right and thereby drag or sweep overthemateriai previously fed forward until the end of the return stroke'is' reached when the beginning of the next forward feeding stroke toward the right will cause them to drop down into the vertical position again for a direct feeding or conveying stroke, the beam H1 meanwhile-being, of course, slidable between the. tracks 14 and 281 In order to provide the proper reciprocating movement to beam ill, a pi-tman 3T is pivoted by a pin or the like 38' directly tothe beam at one end" of said pi-tman, while the other end connected,

as best seen in Figure 7, by a pin 39- extending through a pair or chains lll, 45- mounted on sprockets similar to- 41 on shafts 42,, 42 and further sprockets, not shown, on shafts43, 43isupported in bearings 44, 44" mountedon'a base 4! adjacent to the end of gutter I2, the same base supportin v bearings 46, 46 for shafts 42, 42, the

meshing with pinions 48, 48 on shaft 49. The latter shaft 49 has a gear 50 meshing with a motordriven pinion or gear driven by a motor 52 also mounted on the base 45. Previously-mentioned pin 39 has collars 53 mounted thereon for spacing the pitman away from the chains 40, while itself substituting for one of the connecting pins between a pair of links in each of the two chains.

It is thus evident that when the motor 52 drives pinion 5| and thereby rotates gear 50, shaft 49 with its pinions 48, 48 will rotate and will communicate rotary motion to gears 41 and thereby cause chains 4|], 40 to travel through an elongated path toward the sprockets on shafts 43, 43, and then back again, and in this motion the end of the pitman 31 connected to the chains will participate and thereby impart reciprocating feeding and return strokes to the beam ID in tracks I4, 28. Inasmuch as the inv ntion does not actually reside in the means for operating the beam II], but rather in the mounting of the paddles II, further specific details are perhaps superfluous.

However, when the mentioned paddles II are being fed forward toward the right in gutter I2, they will, of course, remain upright as already mentioned to positively feed forward toward the right any materials that may be found upon the bottom of the gutter, while upon the return stroke, these paddles will drag idly over the materials being swung counter-clockwise until the beginning of the new feeding stroke toward the right. However, should a definite obstruction be encountered by any one of the paddles in its forward feeding movement toward the right in gutter I2, the lower edges of the paddles will immediately tend to climb up on the obstruction due to the fact that no great resistance is offered to such elevation of the paddles, but rather the block I8 which virtually supports the paddle and its bearing, as well as sleeve will immediately tend to rise between guide members 22, 22 on supporting plate 2 I, and usually no obstruction will be located on the bottom of the gutter which would cause the paddles to rise further than the extent of slot 34 and the inside diameter of tubular bearing II, that being the range of movement possible to block I8. After the obstruction is passed, the paddle II with its bearing will tend to drop by gravity into proper lower position in th gutter, but I have found it expedient to provide means for making such return more prompt and certain by including resilient means tending to return block I8 down into the position wherein its upper plate 3| again rests upon the upper portions of guide members 22, 22 and support plate 2|.

The means to this end include a pair of vertical slots 54, 54 which extend partly into the block I8 and also into the supporting plate 2| in their mutually contiguous faces. Adjacent to the lower ends of slots 54 are fixed pins 55, 55 to the supporting plate 2| to which are attached a pair of tension springs 56, 56 and extending upwardly through the slots in upper ends of which these springs are attached to attachment studs or hook members 57, 51 fixed to th upper plate 3|. Due to the presence of springs 56 and their attachment to the fixed points at pins 55 on the one hand and at their upper ends to the attachment members 51 of plate 3|, it is evident that when block I8 is forced upwardly by an obstruction beneath the lower edge of paddle II, the springs will tend to resist such upward movement and if not actually preventing the paddle from climbing up over the obstruction, will at least ensure prompt downward return of the paddle to its normal position in the gutter, as determined by the contact of plate 3| with the upper ends of guide members 22, 22 and supporting plate 2|, thus form ing a stop, for block I8.

From the foregoing, it is obvious that during normal operation of the paddles, they will feed material along the gutter I2 until some obstruction is encountered by one of the paddles, when that one paddle alone will rise up with its block I8 between the guide members 22 of its mounting and will thereafter be quickly dropped into normal position again when the obstruction is passed by the springs 51 within the mounting.

Manifestly, variations may be resorted to and parts and features may be modified and used without others within the scope of the appended claims.

Having now fully described my invention, I claim:

1. In a reciprocating conveyor for a gutter, channel, chute and the like, having a beam slidably mounted in substantially parallel relation to one side of the gutter, means for reciprocating the beam longitudinally, and a plurality of conveyor blades or paddles disposed at right angles to one side of said beam transversely of said gutter and mutually spaced apart to form a series, the combination of a mounting for each of said blades or paddles, said mounting including a support fixed upon one side of said beam, a mounting block slidably supported upon said support for predetermined vertical sliding movement, a bearing member secured at one end to the mounting block and extending therefrom transversely across said gutter, a paddle support swingably mounted upon said bearing member and directly carrying the blade or paddle, and stop means limiting the swinging movement of said blade to a depending vertical position in said gutter during forward feeding movement along the latter and to an inclined swung position during idling return movement thereof along said gutter.

2. In a reciprocating conveyor for a gutter, channel, chute and the like, having a beam slidably mounted in substantially parallel relation to one side of the gutter, means for reciprocating the beam longitudinally, and a plurality of conveyor blades or paddles disposed at right angles to one side of said beam transversely of said gutter and mutually spaced apart to form a series, the combination of a mounting for each of said blades or paddles, said mounting including a support fixed upon one side of said beam having vertically-disposed retaining portions rigidly spaced apart thereon, a mounting block slidably retained in association with the support between the retaining portions and conditioned for ver tical sliding movement therebetween, stops limiting the vertical movement of said mounting block in both directions, a bearing member secured at one end to the mounting block and extending therefrom transversely across said gutter, a paddle support swingably mounted upon said bearing member and directly carrying the blade or paddle, and stop means limiting the swinging movement of said blade to a depending vertical position in said gutter during forward feeding movement along the latter and to an inclined swung position during idling return movement thereof along said gutter.

3. In a reciprocating conveyor for a gutter,

a endas channel chute and the like, having a beam slidabl y mounted in substantially parallel relation to one side of'the gutter, means for reciprocating the beam longitudinally, and a plurality of conveyor blades or paddles disposed at right angles to one side of said beam transversely of said gutter and mutually spaced apart to form a series, the combination of a mounting for each of said blades or paddles, said mounting including a support fixed upon one side of said beam having vertically-disposed retaining portions rigidly spaced apart thereon, a mounting block slidably retained in association with the support between the retaining portions and conditioned for vertical sliding movement therebetween, a stop projecting rigidly from said support adjacent the upper end thereof, the mounting block having a corresponding vertical slot extending from the upper portion thereof to an intermediate point thereon for limiting the upward sliding movement thereof, resilient means tending to return said mounting block from upwardly moved position to normal lowered. position. on the support, a stop upon said mounting block engaging against a portion of said support at the lower end of its range of movement to determine a normal lowered position on said mounting block, a bearing member secured at one end to the mounting block and extending therefrom transversely across said gutter; a paddle support swingably mounted upon said bearing member and directly carrying the blade or paddle, and stop means limiting the swinging movement of said blade to a depending vertical position in said gutter during forward feeding movement along the latter and to an inclined swung position during idling return movement thereof along said gutter.

4. In a reciprocating conveyor for a gutter, channel, chute and the like, having a beam slidably mounted in substantially parallel relation to one side of the gutter, means for reciprocating the beam longitudinally, and a plurality of conveyor blades or paddles disposed at right angles to one side of said beam transversely of said gutter and mutually spaced apart to form a series, the combination of a mounting for each of said blades or paddles, said mounting including. a support fixed upon one side of said. beam 8 having vertically-disposed retaining portions rigidly spaced apart thereon, a mounting block slidably retained in association with the support between the retaining portions, and conditioned for vertical sliding movement therebetween, a stop projecting rigidly from said support adjacent the upper end thereof, the mounting block having a corresponding vertical slot extending from the upper portion thereof to anintermediate point thereon for limiting the upward sliding movement thereof, pair of attachment pins spaced apart upon the lower portion of the support between the vertical retaining portions thereon, a stop plate secured upon the upper end of the mounting block and extending over the support and said vertical retaining portions to form stop means limiting downward movement of said mounting block, a pair of attachment members pendently secured in spaced-apart relation upon said stop plate", a pair of tension springs individually suspended from: said attachment members and connected at the lower ends thereof to said attachment pins in order to resiliently urge said mounting plate down to its normal lowered position wherein said stop plate rests on said support and the retaining portions thereon, a bearing member secured at one end to the mounting block and extending therefrom transversely across said gutter, a paddle support swingably mounted upon said bearing member and directly carrying the blade or paddle, and stop means limiting the swinging movement of said blade to a depending vertical position in said gutter during forward feeding movement along the latter and to an inclined swung positionduring idling return movement thereof along aid gutter.

FORD L. NICKERSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,566,514: Wegener Dec. 22, 1925 2,169,535 Briggs May 30', 1939 2,381,185 Rogers et al. Aug. '1, 1945 

